Intertwined
by GhostofListlissPast
Summary: A savior isn't exclusive to one world. Naruto is brought to a world of magic and monsters due to a summoning as a child and takes it by storm. Possible Harem. AU.
1. Chapter 1

A circle of candles surrounding a bawling child lay in the center of a dungeon-like room. Robed individuals lined each wall leading up to a stone altar. Another cloaked person, this one with a coat of arms on their chest, held their arms out to gesture to gather the congregation's attention.

"Let us begin." The decidedly male figure spoke, as nine people stepped out from the groups on the wall and surrounded the configuration of candles and the child. Each one of them brought their hands up to the center of their chest, with their thumb, middle, and ring fingertips touching, while their index and pinky fingers were pointed upward. They hummed loudly in unison, only slightly drowning out the cries of the child between them. The cloaked man behind the altar began to utter a string of words long lost to the tongues of man. The inherent evil pressure those words brought was reason enough for that language to have been buried, but the cloaked man paid no attention to the pressure as a dark wavy energy covered his hands. Simultaneously, the darkness gathered in the spaces between the hands of the circle of people before extending outward from each of them and convening in the middle of the space between them. The beams of dark energy met directly above the child, temporarily mesmerizing it and quelling its crying.

The mix of humming and the man's dark words increased in volume, until the man finished his chant with a flourish, flinging the darkness covering his hands to a space above the layered circles of candles and acolytes. The dark energy stopped high above the point of contact between the beams, before coalescing into a spiraling sphere of dark energy. The cloaked man grinned viciously as the sphere let out a high, screeching hum before a beam shot from the dark maelstrom to the center of the connection of beams from his followers. The flow of energy from the northernmost acolyte increased in intensity almost instantaneously. The follower supplying the energy had a split second to take note of the increase before a spear of darkness extended from his addition to the dark ritual backwards, piercing deep into his chest. His face drew back in intense pain as if he was trying to scream, but no sound came out. The groups that lined the walls were fortunate they were not close enough to see the sheer agony erupt on the man's face before his entire being seemed to become drawn into the evil going through him. Unfortunately, the others in the circle were close enough to witness every excruciating detail with growing horror, knowing they would too share his fate shortly. His face became gaunt in a matter of seconds, the blood being drained from his body into the black beam of energy. After a minute that seemed like an eternity to those close enough to the suffering man, the flow of the vampiric beam lessened until it receded from him back to the center of the crossing beams. The man's lifeless body dropped to the floor with a gaping hole in his chest, but there was not a speck of blood around the wound, the darkness having drank his corpse dry.

The beam of the follower to the dead man's left increased in flow in a similar, quick fashion before the process repeated to the next unlucky victim. The process repeated again and again, with no sounds heard, but the hum of the dark process and the dropping of the other sacrifices' bodies. The process would have likely gone on without interruption, taking life after life, if not for a sudden entrance to the dimly lit room.

The double doors opposite the altar were thrown open by a young woman with long, red hair. The young woman, mid-twenties by the look of her beautiful face, frantically searched the room with her seafoam green eyes, before locking onto the child in the center of the dark ritual, who had begun to cry again when it saw the people around it collapse. "Izumi!" The woman screamed as she took off at a feverish sprint, her arms outstretched to the child to take it and hide it away from the evil surrounding it. She had only gotten a few steps before the leader of the ritual appeared instantaneously in her way. The woman stopped on a dime as the hooded man growled out, "What do you think you're doing?"

The redheaded woman was startled for only a second before pure fury lit up on her face. "What am _I_ doing?! What the hell are _you_ doing?!" She screamed at the man, "You said she'd be safe! You promised me!" Sweat poured down her face as she inhaled deep, angry breaths and glared at the man in front of her.

The hooded man stared at the enraged redhead. "Yes, I did." He paused. "I still do. How much safer can she be than having the power of the greatest beast of destruction at her disposal?" His head turned and he eyed the crying baby girl, "She will have nothing to fear in this world with that much power." The woman sucked in a gasp through her gritted teeth, before she tried darting around the man, but he grabbed her firmly by the shoulder and held her in place.

"I can't have you disturbing the summoning. It's nearly complete." His grip on her shoulder loosened a bit. "Isn't this what we were working for this whole time? For the power to finally right the wrongs committed against our people? And your child will be the one that leads us into that new promised era."

The woman glowered at the man as her gaze switched between him and the ritual going on behind him. "I never wanted this!" She shook her head as tears formed at the corner of her eyes. "That's not the life I wanted for Izumi! I would never want her to carry that curse!"

The man underneath the veil of hooded darkness sighed in exasperation. "Kushina, you knew we were going to have to make some sacrifices to reach our goals. We all knew that. That's why other loyal followers were willing to give up their lives to bring forth the weapon that will let us prosper. And they're giving up their lives so that your daughter would be able to lead us in battle." The redheaded woman now identified as Kushina gaped momentarily before steeling herself and slapping the hand off her shoulder. She took off past the leader toward her little similarly redheaded baby girl. "Izu-!" was all the sound she got out before a stabbing pain ran through her and she coughed out a huge amount of blood. Kushina collapsed to her hands and knees as she wiped some of the blood off her mouth. "Wh-what?" She looked at her own blood staining her hand before her vision swam and she collapsed face down on the ground. She managed the energy to push herself off the ground and turn her head to the cloaked leader of the cultists behind her. "Wh-what d-did you d-do?"

The leader took slow measured steps toward Kushina with his eyes trained on the dark light show nearing its climax a few yards away. Only two sacrifices remained.

"I've been injecting nether magic into you for a long time now, as a failsafe in case you ever did something foolish to betray me. Small enough that you wouldn't notice it slowly corrupting your mana well, but enough that I could paralyze your body if I really needed to. I see now that was a necessary precaution." He turned his head towards Kushina. "This is bigger than you. This is an event large enough to change the fate of the world. And I won't have anyone interfering. Not even you."

A wave of pain wracked Kushina's body, causing her to cough up another large globule of blood. It felt like there was an inferno blazing through her. It took all of her strength and willpower not to pass out from the pain. She feebly lifted her head to glare at the hooded man with a look of nothing, but pure unadulterated hatred. "Y-you b-bastard." She ground out through the blood in her mouth and the pain running through her body.

A flux of energy coming from the ritual drew their attention back to it. "Ah," The hooded man spoke, "looks like the ritual is complete."

The last of the acolytes fell back a dried husk. The bodies of the sacrifices formed a morbid star around the child and the dark maelstrom above it. When the last of the energy receded into the center, it shot up into the dark sphere floating above it. The sphere released a reverberating pulse, before expanding and flattening into a disk of inky blackness. Wind began to pick up in the room as the disk rotated faster and faster.

Kushina lay on the ground while the atmosphere around her exerted an increasing pressure. But, even with the tempest of energy around her, her focus was on the redheaded baby girl only a few yards away from her. 'Izumi.' She thought as every cell in her body screamed out in pain, from both the dark magic wreaking havoc inside her mana channels and from the fact that she didn't have the strength to take her daughter and run from the dark ritual occurring around her. She mustered up what strength she could and reached out a hand towards her child.

The disk of dark energy picked up in intensity and rotational speed. The light from the candles that hung from the walls had been snuffed out long ago by the vicious winds blowing through the room, but the abyss that sat in the center of the maelstrom was still easily seen, even in the darkness. A blackness that somehow stood out in the dark spiral, because of how placid it seemed to the energy around it, but the potency of that darkness was palpable.

The hooded man watched the ritual unfold with rapt attention. If his face could've been seen under the veil of darkness caused by his hood, the excitement shining in his eyes would've been at complete odds with his stoic face. He lifted his arms to address his congregation. "This is the moment we've been waiting for! The beginning of a new era, our era! Behold, my children, the beast of destruction, the Kyuubi no Kitsune!"

The size of the maelstrom decreased while the rotation continued to increase, the humming growing louder and louder. When the energy has receded to a point that it became sphere-like, a sudden cracking noise erupted. Slowly, trails of dark energy leaked from the sphere and dropped to the ground, narrowly missing the crying Izumi. The viscous darkness began to spread out in a large circle across the floor. The hooded man began to shake, the only thing in his poise betraying his excitement. The inky blackness spread and looked to encompass a great area of the floor in the room, but just as it was reaching a behemoth size, the darkness stopped and receded back to the center. Once the darkness has receded into a small circle about two feet in diameter that was just out of contact with the young Izumi, a flash of light erupted from the center of the black circle, nearly blinding everyone in the room. The light held for a few seconds before fading and revealing the results of the ritual.

When everyone lining the walls were able to see after the bright flash, they were subject to two completely unexpected sights. First, they saw the stance of their leader drop into one of complete confusion, unnerving a great number of them. For as long as they had followed him, he had always, always kept a calm, reserved front. There had never been a moment where the acolytes believed that he didn't have every instance planned out and accounted for. The drop of his shoulders and the periodic flexing of his hands betrayed his confusion, spreading an uncomfortable uncertainty for the result of their ritual.

Aiding to that uncertainty was the second unexpected sight. In all the previous descriptions of the Kyuubi no Kitsune their leader had given them, they were led to believe that it was a snarling mass of hatred that shook the earth when it walked and spread chaos simply from its mere presence. The acolytes were expecting to see something that was the epitome of power. Not a blonde haired baby.

The hooded man stared at the child that appeared from the dark ritual for a long moment, his unease causing his followers to hold their breath to see how he would react. Something had went wrong, he thought. The Kyuubi was supposed to come through as a barely reformed mass of energy. Then he could use the Nether to seal the energy into the young redheaded child and his plans would finally come to fruition. Instead, a child laid next to what would've been the container of that immense dark energy.

'Th-this is wrong! What could-Kushina!' He thought as he whipped his head to the young woman who was still laying on the ground. He expected to see a triumphant grin from a seemingly successful attempt to destroy his ritual and derail his plans. But when he laid eyes on her, she seemed to be in just as much shock as him. She was one of the few that actually knew what the ritual was supposed to accomplish, so her confusion meant that she couldn't have had something to do with this occurrence. That type of befuddlement couldn't be faked, especially not in the state her body was in.

'If not her…?' The cult leader turned to his followers along the walls, searching their faces for a sign of who might've been the one responsible for this betrayal. But as he searched their faces, not one seemed to have any idea of what was going on. Many of their faces mirrored the shock in his own. 'What could've gone wrong?'

A heavy silence settled in the room, the acolytes waiting for an explanation for what had happened, and the leader waiting for the same explanation from his supposed saboteur. But no one stepped forward to take responsibility. Everyone in the room waited with baited breath for something to explain what had just happened, but there would be no such explanation. As the silence was becoming unbearable for all parties involved, a loud bang sounded off on the metal double doors that had been closed after Kushina brought them open. Some of the acolytes decided their leader probably wouldn't want another interruption and locked the large, metal bolts to make sure there weren't any more intruders to their ritual. Another loud bang was accompanied by a smattering of dust that leaked from the ceiling. The followers closest to the door backed up a few steps after feeling the force that had assaulted the door. Whatever it was, surely it couldn't bust-.

A final slam threw the metal doors into the room in completely different directions, the bolt locks flying to random corners of the room. Each of the metal doors flew into a crowd of followers and killed a few of them outright, while dazing the survivors. A cloud of dust obscured the makeshift entrance to the room. But the occupants of the room wouldn't have to wait long to see who had supplied the force to fling several meters of steel through the air. The sound of the hulking man's metal boots were heard before he was seen, but the sound betrayed the size of the man and the vast amount of armor he had on. The dust finally settled down enough that the cultists could see the new arrival. Those who had heard exploits of the man and knew who he was were stricken with fear immediately upon seeing his red-tinted armor, and those who hadn't heard of the man were fearful enough from his sheer size.

The behemoth that walked through was at least six and a half feet tall and had a huge stature that was aided further by the red-tinted armor that covered his entire body. The armor was large, covering almost any weak spots, but had segmented pieces to support the fullest range of motion that one could get with a suit that bulky. Resting almost lazily on his shoulder was a giant mace with a sword-like handle and guard. The mace was covered in outward facing spikes that promised to puncture as well as crush anything unlucky enough to be met with it. The giant man stepped over the rubble that was left of the door he destroyed and surveyed the room until he met his eyes with the hooded man's own. The armored man smirked underneath his helm and the guard that covered the lower half of his face. "Well, well… and I thought all the parties were going on at the capital. And yet I _still_ didn't get an invitation."

The hooded man turned to regard the newcomer with a stiff posture. He knew all too well what this man was capable of, as he'd been destroying their bases for the last few months. One by one, the knight had decimated their forces and fouled up a number of the hooded man's plans. This base, the site of the most important ritual, was supposed to be completely secret, but somehow the giant man had found their base again. 'I'm going to have to search through the ranks for any informants reporting our plans to him. But, for now…' The hooded man relaxed himself and placed his hands behind his back, subtly gathering Nether magic into his hands. "Jiraiya-san. I should say I didn't expect this, but your reputation precedes you. And as much as I would like to test your strength myself, I'm on somewhat of a tight schedule as it is. I have bigger problems than you to deal with."

The large knight, Jiraiya, bellowed loudly. "Fat chance! You're looking at the great Jiraiya! Bloodstained Battlemaster of the Second Great War! Conqueror of the Abyss! Believe me," Jiraiya said as he struck what he obviously thought was a "heroic" pose, "there are no bigger problems."

The hooded figure laughed. "That's yet to be seen Jiraiya-san. But, as I said, I've got other things to deal with at the moment." His eyes flickered to the blonde child laying a few yards away from him. He channeled the dark energy into one of his hands while he brought the other in front of him and snapped his fingers. The sound rang out and snapped the acolytes around him to attention. "So, I'll leave my disciples to deal with you." The robed figures along the walls were grateful they had a target for their attention after the mass confusion of the ritual. A cacophony of dark incantations sprang from their lips as they brought dark energy to their bodies. Jiraiya's smirk grew as he brought the giant mace in front of him with both hands and the end pointed to the ground. "Oh come on now, let's have the kids play so we adults can talk in private." Jiraiya slammed the end of his mace down twice and from the darkness through the doorway behind him stepped ranks of knights and casters, all outfitted in full battle attire. The knights wore suits of armor like Jiraiya, but ones that were geared more towards pure stopping power than mobility, while the casters wore robes adorned with the colors of the Empire, red and white. The knights filed in while the casters began their own string of incantations. The two leaders of each faction stared at each other as the energy in the room became palpable. The hooded man decided to be the one to break the silence.

"Annihilate them."

A flurry of dark bolts of energy flew from the acolytes towards the knights, as volleys of flame, ice, and lightning flew towards the cultists. As soon as the bolts were about to hit the shields of the knights, barriers of light surrounded them. The barriers dispelled most of the bolts of darkness, but after the few hits some of the attacks escaped through and hit the knights. Those that were prepared enough to bring up their shields were left with heavily damaged shields, but their bodies intact. Those that weren't so quick weren't so lucky. The bolts that scored direct hits on the body armor of the knights took out chunks of both their armor and their bodies. Quite a few fell from that first assault, some of them being drawn behind the front lines and tended to by healers in the back rows, while the others had instantly died upon impact. The acolytes with their light armor and haphazard formations did not fare as well. Many of them died instantly from the offensive launched against them, either from the explosions, the violent shocks, or flash freezing of the load of spells launched at them. Both sides regrouped for a moment, before launching countless spells against each other and charging at one another.

After the first volley of spells had been launched and the battle had started in earnest, the hooded man speedily got to the young blonde child and scooped him up with one arm while the other pointed to the wall opposite the large-scale skirmish happening and flung the dark energy. The energy hit the stone wall and exploded, disintegrating it like it wasn't even there. He took one more look towards the battle before settling the child into his arms and taking off through the exit he had made.

Meanwhile, in the midst of the fighting, Jiraiya screamed as he swung his massive club and felled multiple acolytes attempting to use magic against him. After a bit more of completely overwhelming those around him with his earth-shattering swings, the acolytes began to completely avoid engaging him as anyone that did risked facing the wrath of the Bloodstained Battlemaster. Jiraiya looked around and saw that the battle was quickly going in their favor, as the acolytes were not anywhere near organized as the force that Jiraiya had brought with him. He took this brief respite to look for the hooded cult leader. A loud explosion sounded off, loud enough to drown out the sounds of battle for a moment, which Jiraiya took as a good indicator of where his quarry was. He looked in the direction the loud blast came from. 'They should be able to wrap this up without a problem.' Jiraiya thought, looking at his soldiers quickly taking the battle. He tensed and was about to chase after where he believed the cult leader to have gone, when he felt an intense grip on his ankle. His body automatically went into attack mode and he pulled back his mace to slam it into…a redheaded civilian woman?

"Please," she coughed out alongside a globule of blood, "help her."

Kushina turned her body slightly and showed Jiraiya that she was holding a small child against her chest. The redheaded baby was bawling from all the chaos around her. Jiraiya froze for a moment thinking that it could've just been a trap to get him to distract him, but no one was even giving the two any attention, lest they catch the eye of the giant man and risk incurring his wrath. He quickly made the decision after he took in the state the woman was in.

Jiraiya swiftly picked up the woman and her child in a bridal carry hold and looked around him. He spotted the telltale trail of smoke from one of his officers and sped through the battle, ducking through attacks while keeping a secure hold on the pair in his arms. He finally found the man he was looking for engaged in battle with one of the malicious cultists. Quick as lightning, Jiraiya dispatched the cultist with a single mule kick and bounded off him to land on his feet in front of his soldier, while the cultist went flying into a pair of his compatriots and dispatched them to unconsciousness with the force of his flight. The soldier was slightly jarred after being brought out of combat so suddenly, but snapped back to attention after seeing that it was his commanding officer that was standing in front of him with a serious look on her face.

"Sir!" Asuma, otherwise known as the Whirling Furnace in the ranks of the Royal Army, saluted Jiraiya with a cigarette hanging limply from the side of his mouth. Asuma was a large man by normal standards, but he was dwarfed by the still larger Jiraiya. Asuma had a face chiseled by many battles and dark hair that led down in a goatee that framed his face. His gray armor had been stained by blood from his previous encounters, but Asuma himself had only a few scratches to his person, indicative of his prowess in battle. "Are you alright?" He paused and looked to the pair in Jiraiya's arms. "Who is this, sir?"

"I don't know, but-," He started, only to get interrupted by the redheaded woman. "Kushina Uzu-," was all she managed to get out before coughing out a fresh splotch of blood, which only heightened Jiraiya's sense of urgency even more.

"Asuma! I need you to take her to the hospital! I'll clear a path!" Jiraiya carefully handed the stunning, but clearly injured redhead and her child over to Asuma. The bearded man looked from the pair in his arms to the giant in front of him. "B-but sir, what about-?"

"Things will be fine here. I trust the guys to be able to take care of these novices." Jiraiya grabbed his mace with both hands before channeling a large amount of his natural element inside it. He brought the mace high above his head before smashing it on the ground just to the left of Asuma. As the mace pulverized the floor into pieces, Jiraiya called out the name of his technique and released the energy he had built up into the ground. " **Terra Path: Maw of the Underworld!** " The ground leading straight out from the mace shifted violently before giant earthen spikes rose out at 45º angles towards the hole in the wall the masked man had created moments earlier. "Heads up!" Jiraiya yelled as the attack forcibly split open a path through the carnage of the room. The members of Jiraiya's assault force were familiar with the attack and the damage it could do. As soon as they had heard him call out the name of the spell, most of them had jumped away to safety, with others sticking to their battles until they actually heard his cry of warning. These stragglers got away in the nick of time, but the acolytes that had been battling the soldiers, some of whom were too puzzled by the disappearance of their opponents to react in a quick enough manner, were run through by series of spikes.

Jiraiya had released the attack for more than a few seconds before he took off. "C'mon!" Asuma quickly followed his commander. Both of them were using the flat portions of the spikes as platforms as they sped through the path Jiraiya created.

They burst through the makeshift exit and landed in the darkness of an alley with streets to either side of them. The light of the moon was the only form of illumination they had. Jiraiya turned to regard the injured redhead. "Take her directly to the hospital. Have her sedated and treated. We'll figure out the details of what to do with her later."

Asuma nodded, the shock he first exhibited replaced by a veteran coolness. "What about you, sir?"

Jiraiya built up energy before releasing it through the bottoms of his feet and turning towards a seemingly random direction. He scowled before saying, "I've got something I've got to take care of." He tensed before shooting off, the force of his departure leaving imprints in the roof of the stone building they were on top of.

Asuma watched him leave, before moving his eyes to the redheaded woman and child in his arms. He sighed and turned the opposite direction that Jiraiya had went. Asuma gripped the woman more securely, not worrying about the child as the woman had a tight hold around her. 'Better take it smooth.' Asuma thought as he left at a brisk, but steady pace. In the woman's condition, a rough ride might just kill her.

 **X- Meanwhile -X**

The masked man stopped on a rooftop as he caught his breath, now that he was a good distance away from the fighting.

"There. Even he shouldn't be able to track me now." He said as his breathing leveled out. He took the moment's respite to look down at the child in his arms. He still had no idea what had happened with the ritual to bring a child rather than a giant beast of destruction. He had gotten every step right, of that he was certain, which made the outcome that much more peculiar. Nine lives had to be sacrificed to complete the ritual to summon the Kyuubi no Kitsune, mana forcefully extracted out of every cell in their bodies. He had seen the process before, and had not felt any excess mana leaking out, so he was sure that all the parameters of the summoning spell had been correct, but the mystery of why the blonde-haired child had appeared remained.

The man stiffened suddenly as he lifted his face to the sky. He was silent for a moment before asking to the air around him, "Are you sure?" The man recoiled as if struck and whispered out in a fearful voice, "Of course not." He looked down once more at the child, who was awake and squirming around in his arms. "As you wish." The man adjusted the child into the crook of his left arm while holding his right hand in front of his face. An intense black fire lit up around his index and middle finger as he recited a dark spell. He brought his hand towards the child, who had started crying. After a moment's hesitance, the masked man placed the flame onto the child's forehead. Contrary to what should've happened when fire came in contact with skin, the child was not burned. As soon as the flame touched the baby's head, his cries quieted abruptly. The flame sunk into the child's forehead without much resistance. As the flame disappeared, a peculiar black symbol shone on the child's forehead. It glowed an eerie black light before seemingly disappearing. The symbol faded away and the child went from being silent to unconscious simultaneously.

The masked man smiled. 'This should certainly be interesting.' He looked at the mysterious blonde baby for a few seconds before glancing to his right suddenly. 'I suppose I underestimated him.' He thought as he removed his cloak and wrapped it around the child as a makeshift blanket. He bent over and placed the baby on the rooftop he stood on just as Jiraiya's hulking presence made itself known a few meters away.

Neither warrior moved. Jiraiya was waiting for the cult leader to act while subtly building up his energy. 'If I can just…' Just as Jiraiya was about to make his move, the other man rose his hand to his brow in a two-finger salute before his body seemed to disintegrate in the wind from his feet up. The mask he wore blocked his face from view, but Jiraiya could just sense that he was smirking. When his upper body was just about to completely fade away, he left Jiraiya with some parting words that would change the lives of everyone on the rooftop forever.

"Watch over my little monster, will you?"


	2. Chapter 2

Mito Uzumaki was startled. This was by no means a common occurrence. In fact, the number of times could be counted on one hand. That constant awareness kept her alive and made her the great woman she was today. But this was no ordinary day. For the first time in over a decade, Mito could feel the presence of two more members of her extinct clan.

She had supposed for a time that she might run into more Uzumaki somewhere along the road of her life, but not in the safety of their own city. She could tell that one was a young woman and the other was a child, due to her peerless sensory skills and the fact that their mana was like a lighthouse piercing through a thick fog. It was all she could do not to notice them. This was only as they came within the boundaries of the magic barrier surrounding their city that repelled foreign mana as well as conserving and retaining all mana used in the city. Because of the thickness of the barrier, combined with the residual mana inside the walls, she wasn't able to sense them before. But now that they had come within the city limits, their mana was leaking out at an alarming rate, from the older of the two at least, and it was saturating the air with its heaviness. Those that weren't versed in the magic arts probably wouldn't be able to tell where it was coming from, but they would feel a pressure weighing down on them. Trained individuals could feel it all around the city, but due to the density of the mana and its constant leaking, they wouldn't be able to discern where it was coming from. Even trained mana sensors would have trouble with it. But Mito Uzumaki was called a once in a generation talent for a reason. She could tell where any person was at a given time based on their mana, out to a distance of a mile and a half, just as she could tell that the newly discovered members of her lost clan were in the Imperial Flame, the principal hospital of the city of Idris.

Mito urged her feet to go faster without breaking her royal façade of positive indifference. She couldn't alert anyone to the fact that anything was different, not until she could assure herself he situation was in control. Being an Uzumaki was not just special, it was monumental. They have the power to turn peasants into kings. With the purity of their mana, inherited through a direct bloodline from the Great Mage himself, they could ruin countries or bring them to the height of power. But a power that great doesn't come without stressors.

Years ago, when Mito was just a young girl, a ragtag coalition of other tribes came down upon their clan with a rabid fervor. So scared were the other tribes that the Uzumaki would use their great stores of power to take over their own lands, even though the Uzumaki were strictly a peaceful people and did not believe in war. They took the advice of their great ancestor to heart, using their great power for healing and sealing arts. Ultimately, their vow of peace would be their downfall. Even with the mass amount of raw mana at their disposal, the Uzumaki stood little chance before the might of the battle-hardened warriors. Some, like Mito, had made it out of the war zone in one way or another, but were hunted down. It was easy to hunt something that poured out mana like a wellspring no matter where they went, especially as exceptional at tracking the tribes had to be during the Lost Age. Mito had felt the lives of her compatriots vanish, with each death feeling like her soul had suffered a deep laceration. Thankfully, a goofy, but powerful young man named Hashirama Senju found her as she was escaping the war zone that was her ancestral home and protected her. From that moment, it seemed their path was set and when he was able to unite the tribes of the Land of Fire into a kingdom that provided some real semblance of peace, she took her rightful place at his side as his queen and lived to bring the ideals of her clan to the people of her kingdom.

Mito arrived at the state hospital, a large, white building that looked over the medical sector of Idris. She was thankful that the chaos, both inside her own mind and from the powerful mana seeping out from the hospital, hadn't alerted her citizens that she knew anything was different from any other day. It would be better if the normal citizens stayed in blissful ignorance of what might be happening within the walls of the hospital. But, as she got closer to the entrance, she was able to discern a presence that had been suffocated by the purity of the mana of the older Uzumaki inside the hospital. There was another large mana flow inside that she had never felt before. Two to be exact. But the two seemed to be warring with each other, each trying to overtake the other. She paused in her walk to focus. When she was able to feel their flows more clearly, her mind flew into shock.

One of the new presences she felt was eerily similar to an Uzumaki. While not having the same purity of the Uzumaki, the mana of the new presence was easily just as powerful. If she had not been such an amazing sensor, she would've easily mistaken it for another of her kind. But this one felt odd and disjointed. The flow felt like it was new and still sorting out how to properly move through the proper mana channels.

However, the second presence that felt was the one that had stopped her in her tracks and threatened to let those around her become aware of the raging thoughts in her mind. This one was not only the largest single mana pool she had ever felt, it was also the most malevolent. This was an ancient, intelligent presence that wanted nothing more than to see everything around it be ripped asunder and scattered to the winds. It was only due to the other large mana pool that was seemingly fighting for dominance that its intention wasn't felt by the whole population of Idris, magically trained or not. Even so, it was able to effect its environment somewhat. Some of the flowers around the hospital that had no doubt looked as beautiful as the foliage a bit farther away were wilting under the evil presence. This new revelation only made the urgency of the situation increase and put extra pop into her step. Or as much as it could without looking out of place for her.

Mito walked through the doors, smiling amicably at the people that bowed as she passed. The people were so awed of her presence that one man waiting for attention whose leg was in a cast stood out of his chair out of sheer will and bowed, even with his leg shaking.

"Mito-sama?"

She turned to find the Director and Chief Medic of the Imperial Flame, Tsunade Senju. Tsunade was in the middle of filling out a form before she noticed the Queen of the Land of Fire in her front lobby.

"Tsunade, how are you today?" Mito asked with a pleasant smile.

Tsunade Senju, the legendary healer, was the head of the largest hospital in the country. She had established herself during the Second Great War, when she saved the lives of countless people, whether they were comrades or not. She wore her blonde hair in two ponytails, the golden shade of her hair meshing well with her hazel eyes. She was average height, but that was about all that was average about her. She had a body that most women would kill for. The lime green shirt she was wearing was being stretched to its limits by her generous bust. She wore a white doctor's coat with a stethoscope around her neck over that. The black skirt she had on showed just enough of her long legs, with a pair of low, black high-heeled shoes. Her modern wear was completely at odds with Mito's royal dress. She had on a long, flowing red dress that matched her long red hair to a tee. She had on a small golden necklace that didn't match someone of her station in life, but she was a humble person and wanted her people to feel like she was one of them as much as she could.

"I'm doing fine." Tsunade paused. "Um… not to be rude, but what brings you here? I don't think I've seen you since..." She said with a somewhat, worried look in her eyes.

Mito waved off her concern. "I assure you, I'm in perfect health. I'm actually here for someone else."

Tsunade blinked. "Who?"

Mito closed her eyes and inhaled, then turned left and walked, beckoning the blonde medic to follow her. She walked down a hallway, then made a right turn at a hallway that was roped off with safety tape. As her body was about to contact with the caution tape, the air shimmered and she disappeared suddenly. Tsunade paused for only a second before she followed Mito through the process and reappeared in a hallway with rooms on either side being guarded by soldiers standing at attention. Tsunade quickly caught up with Mito.

"Somehow, your sensing abilities still manage to surprise me." Tsunade said.

Mito turned her head to show a half-smile, but continued to walk until she reached the final room on the left side of the hall. "This is who I'm here for."

Through the doorway, Tsunade could see a very pale redheaded woman laid on the hospital bed. She was grimacing in obvious pain and her breathing came in heaving, labored gasps. Beside her in a small crib, there was an equally redheaded baby girl, sleeping peacefully. The two women went inside the room and stood on the right side of the redheaded woman. Tsunade grasped the chart hooked to the edge of the bed and frowned. "She was brought in from one of the raids on a nearby village. They were performing some sort of ritual, but when Jiraiya busted in there he found them." 'Among other things.' She thought to herself. As the Queen, Mito would know soon enough. "We don't even have a name yet."

Mito smiled and crinkled her eyes. "She is my kin."

Tsunade audibly gasped. "She's an Uzumaki?!" Once that idea was in the air, it was easy for Tsunade see. The telltale bright, red hair she had was a dead giveaway, but they couldn't go on that fact alone. Even though it was extremely rare, the Uzumaki were not the only clan with red hair. When Jiraiya had first brought the redheaded Jane Doe in, Tsunade had simply pegged her as a flunky for the dark society, or an outright terrorist. Never could she have thought she'd be a member of one of the most famous clans in the history of the world. The cardinal family of mana, wiped out in the Second Great War, who were the direct descendants of The Archmage and kept his pure and extraordinarily powerful mana the pinnacle of bloodlines. Tsunade looked at the sickly redhead in a new light. She regarded her Queen. "But how do you know?"

"Even without being a sensor, I would know the feel of that mana from anywhere." Mito was the greatest sensor of her generation. Some say she could pinpoint the location of every citizen of the Imperial City, no matter how faint, so finding a mana well as vast as Kushina's would be a cake-walk.

As if sensing the conversation turn towards her, Kushina began to stir. Tsunade and Mito each took a side of the bed. Kushina's eyes opened slowly at first, then abruptly jumped to focus. She sat up and screamed, "Izumi! Where is-?"

Her inquiry was quickly cut short by a rough round of coughing. Flecks of blood stained her previously all-white gown. Mito rubbed her back as Tsunade made an incantation and ran a glowing green hand over her chest. When the coughing subsided, Kushina felt dizzy and laid back down on her bed. She focused enough to look at the other two adults in the room.

"Where am I? And my daughter, where is Izumi?" Kushina said, starting out low and gaining volume and urgency as she spoke.

Mito smiled and took a step to her left. Kushina saw Izumi sleeping soundly in a crib next to her and breathed a sigh of relief. "You're at the Imperial Flame Clinic in the Capital. Tell me, what is your name?"

Kushina tried to sit up a little further, but all over her insides hurt. She thought she might scream if she sat up so she settled for a voice completely unlike her usual boisterous one. "Kushina Uzumaki." She pointed to her child. "And that's Izumi."

Mito smiled, but it was a tad forced as she had seen the pain Kushina was in. "Uzumaki. Just as I expected."

Kushina stuck Mito with an inquisitive look. "Are you-?" She left the question open for Mito to finish.

Mito bowed her head. "I am Mito Senju, formerly Uzumaki." She gestured to Tsunade. "And this is my niece, Tsunade Senju."

Kushina sat there gob smacked. Not only was the legendary Grand Healer Tsunade Senju in her room. But the Queen of the empire herself was as well! And she was an Uzumaki! She was a bit overwhelmed, but she managed out a "Nice to meet you." Kushina took a breath and grimaced. "Wh-What happened...?"

Mito and Tsunade exchanged glances. "Well, we were hoping you'd be able to fill us in." Tsunade looked down to her clipboard where the incident report. "All we know is that you were a part of some mass summoning ritual when Jiraiya broke in and stumbled upon the two of you."

Kushina's eyes widened for a moment before turning more melancholy as she glanced at Izumi. "It wasn't a mass summoning. They were only summoning a single entity."

"A single entity?" Tsunade said confusedly. "There were nine bodies drained of all their mana. What could possibly take that much mana just to summon?"

Kushina locked them with a cold gaze. "The Kyuubi no Kitsune."

Mito froze in place. Tsunade didn't have as violent a reaction. "The Kyuubi no Kitsune? What's that? And how could it have taken 9 lives as a sacrifice?"

"It didn't." Mito interjected.

"Huh?"

"It didn't take only 9 lives… it took 81, didn't it?" Mito finished with the darkest look she had ever shown. Kushina gazed at her interlocked hands and nodded.

"81?!" Tsunade exclaimed.

Mito recited a rhyme she thought was lost in time long ago. "Nine by nine, must give their lives,-"

"To summon that which will end time." Kushina finished.

Mito nodded and then looked down, her shaking gaze locked to the floor. "I never thought I would hear that again."

Tsunade looked between the redheads that obviously knew something she didn't. "Mito-sama," She drew the elder Uzumaki's attention out of shock, "What is the Kyuubi no Kitsune? I've never heard of it, nor have I heard of a summoning ritual that… requires 81 sacrifices."

Mito's glance shifted from Tsunade to Kushina and back. "The Kyuubi no Kitsune is a beast that is not of our world. Its only purpose is destruction and the power at its disposal makes it well equipped to that end. At least, that's how the rumors go." She paused to walk to the window and gaze out at her city. "We had captured someone a few months ago who was in a similar type of religious organization. We managed to… coerce the information out of him."

"Torture?" Tsunade asked with apprehension.

"Of sorts. Yamanakas." Mito said. Tsunade shivered. No one wanted to be at the mercy of those mind walkers, especially not when the state was involved.

"The member we had captured told us his sect had summoned the Nanabi, the Seven Tailed Beast. He wouldn't tell us where it was though, of that he was adamant. It seemed he wanted to tell us as much as he did because he believed it was futile to go against them. He spoke of there being nine demons, each more powerful than the last that would help to bring the end of time and usher in 'His' new age."

Mito saw Tsunade asking for clarification with her eyes, but it was Kushina who answered.

"Nergal." Kushina's body shook with fear. "They mean to summon him back to this world."

Tsunade almost let out a laugh before she saw the deadly look on her Queen's face. The laugh died in her throat immediately when she saw Mito's normally smiling face look so serious. "B-but Nergal… he's just a myth. A bogeyman used to keep kids from misbehaving," Tsunade thought back at her own childhood, when she was told if she went out after dark, Nergal might snatch her up and eat her, "isn't he?"

Mito shook her head. "I'm afraid not." She paused. "Years ago, we discovered ancient tablets that told a much more detailed account of the beginnings of our people than our ancestors gave us. The King of Oblivion is, or was, real. So too are the Reckonings."

Tsunade felt faint. She thought they were just stories used to keep people in line through fear of the unknown. It was all real? "So, the Archmage-?"

"My ancestor was the one that finally managed to defeat Nergal, but the battle had left him weakened. He died a few years later, but not before teaching his children the ways of mana." Mito replied.

Tsunade nodded. At least something of the past was the same, even if a major part of the story was different. She looked back to the still shaking Kushina.

Kushina snapped back to the present and looked to each of the two women on either side of her, before looking to her side at her sleeping child a few feet away. "I-I'm not sure."

Mito quirked an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"Well… he was supposed to use the sacrifices as the mana source. After he brought it through-"

"Who's 'he'?" Tsunade interjected.

Kushina's face darkened. "The summoner." She paused to collect herself and fight off the pain of her body as much as she could. "He led us in every ritual, at least the nine that involved the Kyuubi." Her gaze drifted. "He seemed so…familiar." She looked up to see Mito and Tsunade urging her to go on. "He completed the ritual, and," Her grip grew tight enough that her nails drew blood from digging into her palms so deeply, the blood further staining her hospital gown, "that bastard was going to seal the Kyuubi into my Izumi."

Tsunade figured out by now that someone would fill her in. Mito obliged. "The beasts need a human host to be sealed inside or they run the risk of going out of control."

Kushina nodded. "He was supposed to at least…but..."

"But?" Tsunade asked.

Kushina began to respond, but Izumi's cries killed her response in its process. She reached out, but couldn't move due to the pain. Mito walked over to the crib and picked up Izumi. After admiring the child for a moment, she gave her to her mother. Kushina rocked Izumi as her cries became quieter until they subsided. Kushina lost herself in her child's face as tears sprouted unbidden to her eyes.

"Kushina?"

Mito's voice snapped her out of her reverie. Her face took on a reddish tinge. "Sorry." Mito nodded. Kushina continued while still rocking Izumi. "He was supposed to seal the Kyuubi into Izumi, but… when the ritual was complete, there was another child instead."

Tsunade's eyes widened. "A blonde child?"

Kushina stalled for a moment. "Yes, it was. How'd you know?"

Tsunade frowned and crossed her arms. "Jiraiya brought a blonde child in yesterday, right after you came in. Said that the masked man grabbed him before he took off, then left him on a rooftop for no apparent reason. The child's sleeping in a room a few doors down until we can figure how to… deal with him." Tsunade shared a glance with Mito. Neither could be sure what should be done, because the information they had was extremely limited.

Kushina must've read their thoughts from the looks on their faces and exclaimed, "Don't kill him!" The sudden shout momentarily stunned Mito and Tsunade and woke the previously sleeping Izumi.

"Kushina, we-"

"He can't be the Kyuubi! He can't!" Kushina steeled herself and stared directly in Mito's eyes. "Go ahead and sense his mana. I know you can. Nothing that has mana so pure could be the Kyuubi."

Mito paused in surprise, before closing her eyes. She took a deep breath and exhaled while opening her eyes. A smile grew on her face. "We know that he's not the Kyuubi. You're right, though." Though she wasn't completely truthful about the purity of the child's mana, she didn't need Kushina to know that.

Kushina was calmed by Mito's seemingly sincere words, rocked Izumi back to relative silence. "So what _are_ you going to do with him?"

Tsunade took to answer the question while Mito sat down in a chair beside the bed and folded her hands in her lap. "We've yet to figure that out." She frowned. "The child is healthy, extremely so. We've taken scans of his mana and found that a darker energy inside of him, the Kyuubi, is being held back by an unknown incantation drawn upon his stomach. The sealing is extremely intricate and nothing like we've ever seen before. Its purpose besides apparently holding the beast at bay is a mystery. Who knows how long it'll even hold? But the main problem right now is finding someone that can take care of him."

Kushina was silent and looked at Izumi. A child brought into the world without a mother or father to take care of them. And not only that, but also a giant beast of destruction sealed inside of him. No child should have to shoulder that burden alone. Her resolve solidified, she spoke up, "I can take care of him."

Tsunade's face snapped up in surprise before it took on a glum look. She bit her lip and looked away from the bedridden redhead. Kushina saw the expression change and grew confused. "What?" She asked. "What's wrong with that?" She turned to Mito, who had also seen the look on Tsunade's face, but knew her well enough to know what that face meant. Mito's similarly down look unnerved Kushina. "I'll already be taking care of Izumi, so it'll be no problem. And if it's a matter of my loyalty, I'll do anything to prove I'm not one of them! I'm done with that bastard after what he tried to do to my Izumi! And it's partly my fault so I should be the one to take care of him. Please, I need to do this." Kushina pleaded to them.

Mito stared to say "Kushina," but the words caught in her throat. Tsunade, knowing she would have to be the one to give her the bad news, took a light tone. "Kushina, do you know what Nether magic is?" She asked.

The redhead puffed up her cheeks, feeling affronted. "Of course I do! I'm not stupid! That's what the entire ritual used! What's that got to do with anything?"

Tsunade looked away for a moment, composed herself, and prepared to give her the hard truth. "Kushina, when he stabbed you he hit you at the central point of your mana. Given the Uzumaki's potent mana, a wound like this should only be a painful one, not a fatal one. However…" Tsunade saw the dread growing on her face, but as a professional, she had to get out the words, no matter how painful it was. "He injected Nether magic directly into your mana well and poisoned you. The intense pain you no doubt feel is due to your organs shutting down. As it stands… you may only have a matter of a few hours left, before the magic stops your heart."

Tsunade kept a solemn look on her face as she looked on the bed ridden redhead. Mito rushed to her side and pulled Kushina's head to her chest. Kushina remained stunned for a good minute, while her brain attempted to process the news. When she came to the realization that this wasn't some kind of sick joke, her eyes drifted to Izumi and she wept. Kushina held her child close, reveling in the closeness she felt from Mito, even though they had just met, even though they would not know each other for much longer.

A few hours later, Kushina had fallen asleep after the emotionally exhausting day she'd had was compounded by her already exhausted body. Izumi was being held by Mito, who was feeding her with a batch of formula. Tsunade had left to tend to her other patients. She didn't mean to seem cold, but she had a duty to them, she said to Kushina. In the midst of her sorrow, Kushina gave her a glorious smile to Tsunade and told her that she understood. Tsunade left the room with unshed tears in her eyes. It was wrong that someone had caused a benevolent being like her to perish too early.

It was shortly after that that Kushina had fallen asleep. Mito stayed in the chair beside her bed, holding Izumi. It had been so long since she had held a child. She had never had any of her own. She had felt some sadness about that, and had told her husband, the King, about her regret for not giving him an heir. He had just smiled that same silly way he had when she first fell in love with him and told her, "Don't worry about that. Yours is all the love I'd ever need." 'What an old fool.' She thought with a smile on her face.

Izumi began crying, interrupting her from her thoughts. The elder redhead picked her up over her shoulder and patted her back gently until she burped. She brought Izumi back down to face level.

"All better?" Mito asked in a gentle voice. Izumi giggled, which only brightened Mito's already blinding countenance. Mito placed her in the crook of her arm while gazing at her lovingly. So enamored with the child, she didn't notice Kushina wake up until Izumi had fallen asleep again. Mito looked up and found Kushina's seafoam green eyes locked onto her. They were lacking in focus, but not intensity.

"Oh Kushina. When did you wake up?" Mito asked.

Kushina gave a small smile. "A little while ago."

Mito laughed sheepishly. "I'm sorry. Izumi took all of my attention from the outside world." She gazed down at Izumi. "She's a beautiful child."

Kushina stared at the scene before her, trying to draw up the courage to ask an impossible question of the Queen of the Land of Fire. She steeled her resolve as she could feel her aching body, but less so than before, as if her strength was being sapped away from her. She didn't have time to be indecisive. She was certain of that.

"Uzumaki-sama?"

"Just Mito is fine," she said while still looking at Izumi, "after all, we're family."

Kushina smiled. "Mito-san," Mito huffed, but Kushina continued on, "do you have any children?"

Mito looked up, startled for a moment. She had thought of the notion only moments before. A sad smile. "No, I don't. I've never been able to." Her smile brightened a bit as past times flashed into her mind. "I did take care of Tsunade quite a bit when she was young. Her mother was quite sick and-." Mito froze, her eyes becoming wide. "I'm sorry, that's-."

Kushina waved off her concern weakly. "Don't worry about it, dattebane." She paused, inhaling and exhaling deeply. "Mito… would you take care of Izumi…while I'm gone?"

Mito's eyes went as wide as they possibly could and her jaw dropped. She was completely floored for one of the first times in her life. She managed to stammer out, "W-well, I-I would be honored, but-."

"I may not be able to do much for her now," Kushina breath caught in her throat, but she swallowed her emotion down. She needed to get this out while she still could, "but I can at least make sure she lives with a loving family. You're the only one I would trust with her happiness. Besides," Kushina smiled, "we're family, aren't we?"

Mito tried to slow her racing mind and actualize the possibility. There were a number of problems that would arise from adopting a child as a ruler. Actually, she had no idea what would ultimately happen. Nothing of the sort had ever happened in the country's history. There was the problem of lineage. Izumi was blood-related, but she wasn't a direct descendant. But they had not had any other children and Hashirama's brother, Tobirama, had often expressed his distaste of the throne, so it wasn't that much of a problem if the throne didn't actually stay in the family.

There was also the problem of her origins. If people had found out that she was born from someone that lived in one of the dark cults, she could be ostracized, even if she was a princess. People's fear of the dark arts could sometimes get out of control and reason is not always the first thing they go to. But the only people that knew of Izumi's origins were herself, Tsunade, and Jiraiya. All three of them used the utmost discretion when the time calls for it. If it was kept controlled, then the secret was safe.

Every reason that Mito could think of that went against the idea fell apart, and with each vote of confidence, her decision solidified that much more. She was nearing her decision when she looked at Izumi, then Kushina. Kushina had tears rolling down her face, all her energy riding on this choice. "Please." She sobbed out. And so the dam broke.

Mito exhaled then smiled. "Alright… I'll adopt Izumi as my own."

Kushina's face lit up with jubilance, tears still falling down her face, but for a much different reason. She collapsed back into her pillow muttering, "thank you, thank you…" repeatedly. Mito just smiled.

Kushina's thanks cut off as another wave of pain swept through her. Mito looked on as Kushina's strong face turned into a pained grimace. She asked the bedridden redhead, "Is there… anything I can do?"

Kushina's breathing started to come in great heaving gasps, but she managed to smile and say, "Could you… just… lay her… next to me?"

The pain was excruciating. She felt as if every breath brought a dagger into her chest. 'Not too much longer now.'

"Of course." Mito laid Izumi on her side, facing Kushina. She struggled to use any of her energy to go on her side to face her child. After an excruciatingly long minute, Kushina was able to turn over and look at her Izumi fully. Her tears dampened the pillow under her as burned Izumi's face into her mind and heart. She called on the last of her energy, exhibiting a willpower she didn't know she had, in order to make one final gesture. With shaking hands, she cradled her child's cheek with her left hand.

"Izumi… I'm sorry, but… we're not going to have… the life I p-promised you. But know that… I'll always… be there." Kushina stifled a sob and drew in her breath. "Even though… I can't stay… you have Mito… to take care of you." Now Mito had rivulets of tears pouring out. She made sure to memorize every word and image for the day that Izumi learned the truth, even if that was years away.

"Be a… good girl for her. Eat your… vegetables so you can… grow up to be… taller than your mother. It… wears on you." A pain-filled bark of laughter. "Be strong… because there may… be trials ahead. In those times… rely on… your friends. Be sure… to find… a boy… just like… your mother. He'll… put some… spice in your life." Kushina's swallowed hard. Death's cold, loving embrace was encircling her. Only her will kept her going this long.

"But most of all… know that… I'll always… love you. My beautiful daughter, Izumi."

Her voice and eyelids gradually lowered further and further until her eyes closed, for the final time. Mito closed her eyes as tears ran down her face, before she heard the familiar noise of rainfall. Even the heavens wept.

-xXx-

When a king is pictured in the mind's eye, most would conjure up a regal visage of a man, resplendent in gold and priceless gems. A crown and scepter, both studded with numerous rubies and sapphires of immeasurable value. Commanding almost an oppressive aura, if only by virtue of its sheer magnitude.

This image of a ruler was crumpled up, set on fire, and thrown away when the King of Ignis, the capital of the fire nation, Idris, appeared in his throne room. At most times riddled with bed head, at all times evidently bored, Hashirama Senju cursed every day his decision to accept the crown. He had been a warrior and helped to unite the five nations into one during the Great Wars. When the dust had settled, there was still the matter of who would lead. Propositions from every nation were put forward. However, the candidates from Hydros, the water nation's capital, and Sheol, the earth nation's capital, were largely dismissed due to the two countries status as the newest states to the union. They opposed the coalition of Idris, Ventus, the wind nation, and Fulgur, the lightning nation, along with a number of smaller states.

However, the organization of the nation of Idris, solidified in the trials of the First Great War, proved too much for the disjointed and often selfish actions of the opposing forces. After six years of bloodshed, the five nations officially became one. While sometimes tensions ran thick between some statesmen, they all realized the economic benefits and the increased safety they gained from being secure from possible invasions from outside forces. It would be foolish to jeopardize that for petty squabbles. The younger generation was not as aware however. They were most often the cause of international skirmishes, parental biases they took to heart and acted on which had a tendency to snowball. It all added to the headache that was hammering away at Hashirama's sanity. Thankfully nothing had erupted into a crisis yet.

The king of the most powerful empire leaned his head on his right fist. He was dressed in his usual clothes as sovereign. A crimson red robe separated by a belt with a row of insignias at about breast level that were in the shape of a tree. His aides were not too happy with his choice of daily attire. One of the perks of being king is not having to worry about the menial worries of how he presented himself. When it was appropriate, such as when foreign dignitaries had business with him, he would dress up. But "function over fashion" was one of Hashirama's mottos and the aides' gripes were abated by the fact that he at least wore the royal emblem.

The emblem was one of the few aesthetic aspects that Hashirama cared enough to put his opinion in. He chose a tree as the union's highest symbol, because he believed in the empire as a seed that would take root and, with the right amount of care, grow resolute in time.

'Quite poetic, if I do say so myself.' Hashirama thought with a grin as he drowned out the proposal for higher local tax levels given by one of the lackeys of the Council. He sighed and thought, 'Why did I ever make them? Oh, right, to cut down on my paperwork.' He looked to the right of his seat where 18 proposals from the Council had submitted THAT DAY. 'Well, that backfired.' Hashirama sat there, convinced he was about to die of boredom when he thought, 'Man, wish something exciting would happen around here.'

"SIRE!" Jiraiya yelled, walking through the entrance. "We need to talk."

Be careful what you wish for.

-xXx-


End file.
